WASHINGTON — The White House is rejecting a Republican counteroffer aimed at averting the "fiscal cliff," saying it does not meet what the White House calls "the test of balance."

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer says the GOP proposal would lower tax rates for the wealthy and stick the middle class with the bill. He says the plan includes nothing new and provides no details on how it would achieve higher revenues.

The House Republican plan calls for $800 billion in higher tax revenue over 10 years. But it would keep the Bush-era tax cuts in place for all income earners.

Obama has insisted there can be no deal unless Republicans agree to end the tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 a year when they expire in January.

Just earlier today, House Republicans proposed a new 10-year, $2.2 trillion blueprint to President Barack Obama that called for increasing the eligibility age for Medicare and lowering cost-of-living hikes for Social Security benefits.